


Captive

by PumpkinSparks8616



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe, BAMF Stiles, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Derek Needs To Use His Words, Derek and Stiles are Kidnapped, Derek and Stiles are Mates, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Slow Build, Stilinski Family Feels, The Hale Pack - Freeform, alive!claudia stilinski
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-10 20:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3303101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinSparks8616/pseuds/PumpkinSparks8616
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Miguel (he looked like a Miguel okay!?) was probably extremely attractive when he wasn’t hanging from a wall. </p><p>He had the physique of a Greek God, something Stiles only noticed because he was checking for injuries! </p><p>And his face! He had the exact right amount of stubble to jaw ratio. And his eyebrows! Stiles had never thought of himself as having a thing for eyebrows before but he’d be willing to give it a go for this guy.<br/>-<br/>Stiles and Derek meet when they are both kidnapped by the Argents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so this idea popped into my head and before I knew it I had fifteen chapters written already, if I keep going on my current streak I'll be updating this every three or four days either until I run out of chapters to post or until I've finished this story.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!!

Stiles groaned. He knew instantly that something was wrong and it only took a few seconds to figure out what. His Spark was gone. He let out a moan of pain. His Spark had been something he had been aware of since he was ten and his Mom had started to properly give him instruction. But it was something that had always been there, just short of bubbling to the surface. Without it his chest felt hollow and empty, like someone had taken a rusty knife and carved out a lung.

He blinked his dry eyes open and let his eyes adjust to the dim light before looking around. He was in some sort of cell. Its walls were made of bland grey stone and the floor felt like the floor of his bathroom back home. It even had a drain in the middle, but Stiles felt slightly sick when he noticed the chains on the walls and he realised that the drain was most likely for washing away evidence. There was one door, and no windows.

He tried to sit up but his head started spinning and he figured it would be better to take a few more minutes to get his bearings rather than collapsing. He tried to think back to what he could remember, but the last thing his mind came up with was driving to the movies to meet Scott and his new girlfriend. That had to be something at least, Scott would know something was wrong pretty soon, if he didn’t know already. That meant they would be looking for him soon.

Not that he had any idea where he was. Or who had taken him. But whoever it was knew that he had magic, knew that he knew how to use it. Tears stung his eyes as he lifted a hand to press against his chest, it was more than just the physical pain. He couldn’t feel the thin thread of _something_ that attached him to his Mom. It had always been there, just like his Spark but once his Mom had taken over his education she had taught him how to feel for it, how to recognise the familial bond. It was as simple as his magic reaching out for the nearest magical being near him and it happened to be his mother. He felt panic claw at his throat just thinking about the emptiness. He couldn’t feel her. He couldn’t sense her at all. What if something had happened to her? What if she was dead? What if that was why his Spark was dimmed completely?

He let out a strangled sob as his tears escaped his eyes, he could feel his breathing getting faster but he couldn’t do anything to stop it. Was this a panic attack? He had never had one before but he was pretty sure this was what Scott felt when he had an asthma attack. Ever since his Mom had taught him the herbs and healing magic he had been there to ease Scott’s breathing. But he was alone here. There was no one to calm him down, let alone to mix any sort of poultice or herb bag. He had to calm down.

Slowly, with a lot of effort he managed to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth until he could finally take a deep breath without it hitching. He lay there on the cold floor breathing hard for a long time. His whole body ached and he felt wrung out like a dish towel.

He blamed how tired he felt for the fact that he jumped when the door slammed open. His body reacted faster than he thought it could with his head spinning like it was. Instinct forced him to sit up and scoot back towards the wall. Two burly men entered the room, dragging a third behind them. They didn’t even spare Stiles a glance as they strung the guy up in the chains that Stiles had noticed earlier. His arms ached in sympathy for the position the guy’s shoulders were wrenched into.

“Um… hello?” He called after they had finished and were about to leave the room. Kidnapper #1 turned to look at him raising an eyebrow. “Any chance you’ll tell me what I’m doing here?”

“You’ll find out soon enough _witch_.” Kidnapper #2 snapped and Stiles frowned, ‘witch’ wasn’t technically the correct term. Druid would be more accurate, but even that had connotations of ritual sacrifice nowadays. He didn’t say anything to correct them though, despite what certain people (Scott) might think, Stiles did know how to keep quiet, and this was definitely one of those situations where mouthing off would not be appreciated.

Their hosts left quickly after that, slamming the door shut behind them with a finality that rang in Stiles’ ears. He tried to distract himself from another panic attack by studying his new roommate.

Miguel (he looked like a Miguel okay!?) was probably extremely attractive when he wasn’t hanging from a wall. He had the physique of a Greek God, something Stiles _only_ noticed because he was checking for injuries! And his face! He had the exact right amount of stubble to jaw ratio and his eyebrows. Stiles had never thought of himself as having a thing for eyebrows before but he’d be willing to give it a go for this guy.

Stiles squinted to try and make out any Rune tattoos on the skin he could see. He couldn’t see anything marking Miguel as a druid, like Stiles had. His tattoos were on his hips, twin zigzagging lines to represent rivers, water, life. His magical training had been mostly Slavic in origin, which was kind of obvious when you thought about it considering how proud his Mom was of her heritage. But Stiles knew that most other druids had marks too. When his Mom had taken him to visit her old acquaintance Alan Deaton, he’d shown the curious eleven year old Stiles the single circle he had tattooed onto his left forearm. It was a simple thing and even now, with all of his training, if Stiles hadn’t know that Deaton was a druid he might have just thought it was an ordinary tattoo.

Of course, being locked up and having his Spark stripped from him made him generally assume that they wanted him there because of his magic. It wasn’t that big of a stretch to imagine that Miguel was probably there for the same reason.

After what felt like at least a few hours Stiles had at least two or three versions of Miguel’s life story planned out in his head, he had counted the floor tiles fifteen times (there were three hundred and four) and he had memorised the dark stain on the wall opposite to Miguel. So when Miguel groaned and lifted his head Stiles practically deflated in relief.

“Hey! Dude? You okay?” Miguel’s glorious eyebrows knotted as he frowned before opening his eyes, blinking a few times in the dim light, like Stiles had.

The situation then seemed to dawn on the guy and he started tugging at the chains on the walls, getting more and more stressed out.

“Whoa, hey dude! Calm down!” Stiles climbing shakily to his feet and held his hands up to show he meant no harm. But Miguel just started struggling harder. “Dude!”

Now Stiles wasn’t a sceptic of the supernatural. Hell, he was supernatural. So when his Mom showed him a new configuration of herbs or runes that were supposed to aid healing, or when she had him memorise a new chant in polish that would enhance strength, sight or hearing. Well, he had learned to go along with it and hey, when Stiles finally brought Lydia home for the first time (as a friend because she had very clearly laid out the facts for him in a painful but necessary dressing down) and his Mom had frowned and wandered off muttering something about Banshees and screaming, well, he had googled the hell out of the topic and decided that maybe that time Lydia was the one to find Matt Daehler drowned in the swimming pool wasn’t so much a case of bad luck, but more of an innate instinct that came from being a mythical creature.

But this, this was something Stiles had never dealt with before.

Miguel’s features shifted, his brow became thicker, hair sprouted from the sides of his face and thickened from stubble into an almost-beard, his ears pointing to tips and well, the whole fangs and claws and glowing blue eyes thing. Stiles had never seen anything like it.

“Fucking Hell!” He swore before his mouth dropped open and he stared in open fascination of the man in front of him. His mind started cataloguing all the changes in the guy and his mind could only come up with one word. “…Werewolf?”

The guy stopped his struggling dead and hung there, breathing heavily for a few long minutes.

“Dude! This is awesome! Are you seriously a werewolf?” He demanded and Miguel frowned at him.

“Aren’t you?” Stiles scoffed, Miguel asked that as if everyone he met was a werewolf. But then, Stiles supposed it was a fair question given how he had sort of assumed Derek was a druid since they were thrown in together.

“Um, I’m guessing if I was I’d be tied up next to you buddy.” Stiles said and Miguel’s frown deepened at the reminder of the chains. “I’m actually a Spark.”

It was strange admitting it out loud, as it stood only four people knew about what he was. His Mom had known since he was born and had presumably told his Dad as soon as she knew. Scott found out when Stiles did (there wasn’t a single thing that Scott didn’t know about Stiles and vice versa), and after his Mom had had a conversation with Lydia about the whole banshee thing, she had presumably gone on a google binge and had turned up three days later and demanded why he hadn’t told her he was a druid.

It was even more disconcerting to admit it when he couldn’t actually _feel_ his Spark. The reminder had him bringing a hand to his chest and pressing it there as if the touch could bring it back.

“What the hell is a spark!?” Miguel growled, and wow, yes he did actually growl.

“Um… do you get werewolves that are born as werewolves?” He asked and Miguel’s frown lightened a bit in confusion. “Do you?”

“Yes.” Miguel said slowly.

“And ones that are turned then presumably?” Stiles asked and Miguel nodded. “Well a Spark is sort of like a born-druid. Most druids pick up the whole magic thing from their families, tradition and all that. But some are born with an instinct for it. An innate ability.”

There was more to it than that, and it was a hell of a lot rarer than he had made it sound, but that was generally the gist of it. Whereas most druids learnt their magic Stiles had been turning fruit flies into butterflies before he could talk just because ‘they’re prettier like that Mama’. It also meant that most of his spells and herbal mixes were more potent than the average druid’s.

“So… you’re a druid?” Miguel asked and Stiles nodded.

“From my Mom’s side.” He said and Miguel just glared down at the floor.

“So, Miguel. Where are you from?” Stiles asked and Miguel turned his glare onto the teenager.

“ _Miguel_!?” He spat and Stiles couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his face.

“Yeah, you look like a Miguel. Are you not a Miguel? Damn, that just about breaks my heart.” ‘Not-Miguel’ glare intensified and Stiles’ grin just widened.

“My name’s Derek. Derek Hale.” Stiles nodded.

“I’m Stiles Stilinski.” He said and Derek’s eyebrows shot up.

“Your parents called you _Stiles Stilinski_?” He asked and Stiles scoffed.

“No, but trust me its way, _way_ better than my actual name. ‘Stiles’ is at least pronounceable to most.” Stiles said grinning at the curiosity on Derek’s face. “And no I’m not going to tell you my real name.”

“I wasn’t going to ask.” Derek spat and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Yes you were.” Derek seemed to decide to ignore him for a while after that. Spending a few minutes looking around the room, probably trying to guess where they were. But Stiles had done that for the first few hours and still had nothing.

“Where are we?” Derek asked.

“Dude, hell if I know! Seriously! Last thing I remember is making my way to the movies and then: bam! I wake up in BDSM heaven!” Derek grunted. “So you remember anything about being taken?”

“There were five hunters. I was on a run. They ambushed me.” Derek said in a tone that had Stiles thinking that maybe werewolves could heal really fast. That the kidnappers had probably used a lot more force than necessary.

“Alright. Okay.” Stiles clapped his hands and sat down opposite Derek’s feet. “Did you recognise any of these… uh… hunters?”

“No.” Derek growled and Stiles nodded.

“Fair enough.” Stiles thought back to driving to the movies, trying like anything to get a glimpse of what had happened but it was like there was some sort of mental block. “Will anyone be out looking for you soon? I mean, Scott, my best friend. I was meant to meet him at the movies with so I’m pretty sure my family knows I’m missing by now but I’m not sure how useful that’s going to be.”

“How long have I been unconscious?” Derek asked and Stiles shrugged.

“I think about four hours, since they brought you in anyway. Two, heavyset dudes. Ugly faces.” Stiles’ brain-to-mouth filter was officially offline.

“Then my family knows I’m missing. I’m never gone for more than an hour on my morning run.” Derek said and Stiles purses his lips in thought.

“Alright. So I’m going to assume that I was taken last night and you were this morning since you came in after me. And since the last thing I remember happening was around nine then I’m just going to go ahead and assume that I was unconscious for way longer than a couple of hours. So I’m probably at around the eighteen hour mark of being missing and you’re more around the six.” Stiles rubbed his hands together, trying to gather some sort of heat into them. He could feel the panic gripping at his throat again.

“Stiles. Calm down.” Derek growled and Stiles glared at him.

“I’m sorry!? I’ve just been kidnapped for God only knows what reason and you want me to calm down!?” He yelled and Derek took a deep breath. Stiles fell silent and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to stop the frustrated tears from escaping.

They sat (or well, hung) in silence for a long time after that and surprisingly Derek was the one to break it.

“Can you have a look at the chains, see how they’re holding me? If they weren’t re-enforced with something I would’ve broken them by now.” Stiles nodded and climbed to his feet.

He had to stand on his toes to reach up and see the chains. There was definitely something supernatural about them. He hadn’t lost that sense at least. He frowned and stroked his finger down the left handcuff. It was darker than normal metal, in a sort of purposeful way and had carvings of a flower. Stiles thought back to all of his training until he recognised it with a huff.

“Wolfsbane.” Derek hissed at the word and shied away, as if the very word was enough to hurt him. “And probably Mountain Ash if the colour of the metal is anything to go by.”

“This isn’t good.” Derek scowled.

“Yeah I kind of figured that.” He snapped and Derek growled at him.

“If there’s wolfsbane in the chains it won’t be long before I start to feel it. There’s probably only a small amount in them or I would have reacted already.” Derek said with a grimace.

“So what sort of reaction are we talking about here?” Stiles asked. “Like I ate bad shellfish or I’m allergic to shellfish sort of a deal?”

“More of a burning through the skin to the bone sort of a deal.” Derek said in a monotone and Stiles flinched.

“Shit.” He hissed.

“Yeah… shit.” Derek sighed. “My healing will stop any sort of permanent damage but it’s not going to be good.”

Derek suddenly froze all of a sudden, like all of his muscles had seized up at once and Stiles felt his stomach drop when the werewolf’s eyes widened and his head spun to face the door. It swung open a few seconds later.

“Well, hello there Cutie.”


	2. Chapter 2

Stiles studied the woman. She most definitely didn’t have the whole master torturer vibe, more of rich heiress. Her blonde hair was perfectly coifed and she was wearing what he could only assume were designer clothes, jeans that looked painted on, an extremely low cut blouse and a leather jacket to cover absolutely nothing up with.

“Kate!” Derek growled and Stiles actually flinched backwards when she took a step forward. There was no way in hell she was anything good, if Derek’s reaction was anything to go by.

“Now c’mon Derek, I know we didn’t exactly part on good terms but growling? Really?” She smirked when Derek roared. Honest-to-God roared. Stiles watched her cautiously as she stalked forwards, she winked at Stiles but stopped in front of Derek. “We had some good times didn’t we?”

“Like the time you tried to burn my family alive!?” Derek snarled and whoa, okay. So they were dealing with all sorts of crazy in a bag then.

“Now Derek.” Kate said in a placating tone, Stiles felt his lips twist in disgust when she ran her hand along Derek’s collarbone. “That was never proved was it?”

“I know it was you.” He growled and she just smiled prettily at him before turning to Stiles.

“Hello there, it’s Stiles isn’t it?” She smiled sweetly at him and Stiles felt his stomach turn. There was no way this woman was even slightly hinged. He tried not to react but when she reached for his chin he couldn’t help but flinch. “Such a pretty face. It’s going to be fun. _Talking_ to you.”

He yanked his chin out of her grasp with a glare but her smile just widened.

“Johnson, Laurel. Can I have some help in here?” Kate called and Kidnappers One and Two came back into the room. “Now. _Stiles_. Are you going to come with me so we can have a nice little chat or am I going to have to ask again?”

Stiles glanced at the backup then back to Kate. Everything inside of him recoiled at the idea of walking out of that room with her but he knew if he didn’t it would probably be a hell of a lot worse for him. His eyes caught Derek’s who was shaking his head hard.

“Y-Yeah. I guess a chat wouldn’t hurt.” He said and Kate just smirked at him. He couldn’t hold back his shudder of disgust when she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Derek growled and Stiles tried to give him a reassuring smile. “I-I’ll see you later Derek.”

They didn’t go far. Only a few doors down the corridor outside. But it was enough for Stiles to see that they were underground, and that it wasn’t that complex of a dungeon. Just a long corridor with a dead end at one end and a set of stairs at the other. Kate led him into a room that looked eerily like one of his Dad’s interrogation rooms. There was even as desk with handcuffs which ‘Johnson’ snapped around his wrists. Stiles knew that struggling would make it worse. He knew that. But everything in him at that moment was screaming for him to run.

Kate sat down primly in the chair opposite him smiling sweetly. She dismissed Johnson and Laurel and if Stiles hadn’t known any better he have would assumed that this was a business meeting.

“Alright Stiles. Firstly I want to apologise for locking you up with that animal, but we’re a bit short of accommodation at the moment.” Stiles’ stomach turned, partly from her calling Derek an animal but mostly because her statement made him wonder how many other people were locked up in those rooms along the corridors. How long had they been here? Why hadn’t anyone noticed someone building a dungeon? “I want you to know that so long as you co-operate, you have nothing to worry about. We can even see about getting you a nicer room when one opens up.”

She was talking like they were arranging for him to stay in a hotel, not another cell. His mouth twisted in disgust at her.

“Now, now, there’s no need for that. I only want to ask you some questions.” She reached out and placed a perfectly manicured hand over his own. It made his skin crawl. “We’ll start with something small shall we? How long have you been able to use magic? Who taught you?”

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. She must have known that he was a Spark, to do whatever she had done to him to make him lose it. Technically that meant he wouldn’t have had to be taught.

“I taught myself.” He said and she just shook her head, as if she was a teacher disappointed in his answer. Stiles didn’t even see her move. One minute he was glaring down at her hand the next his head was ringing from the slap she dealt him.

“I won’t tolerate lies Stiles.” She said softly, her hand stroking down his now burning cheek. “Now, how long have you been able to use magic, and who taught you?”

“I. Taught. Myself.” Stiles said slowly, as if he was talking to a child. Kate’s lips twitched and Stiles grinned inwardly at the fact that he was annoying her. It probably wasn’t the best plan, but if he had learnt anything from watching his Dad work it was that the angrier a person was, the less in control they were of what they said. “What did you do to my Spark?”

Kate sighed. This time it wasn’t a slap. Her fist caught his cheekbone and he cried out in pain, slumping against the table.

“I’ll ask the questions Stiles dear.” She said. “How about we try another one? Who is the banshee?”

Stiles went cold. He hadn’t thought anyone knew about Lydia. _She_ hadn’t even known until his Mom had said something to her.

“Oh yes, we know about the banshee. Our dogs heard her screaming.” Stiles kept his mouth firmly shut. “You know, I’ve dealt with only one other banshee before. Beautiful girl, only fifteen. Long blonde hair, pale skin. The works. It was too bad the voices sent her insane. In the end she screamed loud enough to break the windows of my car. Ruptured my left eardrum before I took her down.”

Stiles resolutely stared at the table.

“You see Stiles, you don’t understand how dangerous the supernatural can be. I have absolutely no doubt you were raised to believe your magic is a part of you. A _natural_ thing.” She spat the word like it was poison. “But it’s not. It’s dangerous. I’ve seen more than one druid go mad with the power rush. I’m sure you think that whoever taught you magic is your friend, just like I know that you think this banshee is your friend but she’s not human Stiles. She’s dangerous. She’ll hurt people before the end. Now tell me. Who is she?”

“What makes you think I know?” Stiles spat and Kate smiled at him.

“Because, Stiles darling. I know people.” She purred. “I can always tell when they’re lying, and I know you know who she is.”

Stiles shook his head and she just sighed.

“Very well then. We’re going to have to do this the difficult way.”

-

Stiles only registered that he was back in his cell when he heard Derek growling. His whole body felt like a giant bruise. He groaned and rolled over to face the sound. He was on the opposite side of the room but he couldn’t bring himself to even crawl closer. Derek was shifted again, and he had a few bruises and a split lip that Stiles watched heal before his eyes. He had no doubt that Derek had been hurt a hell of a lot worse than him.

“Stiles? Stiles!?” Derek called and Stiles nodded.

“I’m good. I didn’t tell her anything.” Though it had been hard not to through the constant onslaught of pain. Kate had only stopped to ask him questions. Promising the pain would stop if he just told her but Stiles had just kept his mouth shut. There was no way in hell he would give up his Mom or Lydia to this psychopath.

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Derek growled. “Are you okay?”

“I’m in pain but I’ll live.” Stile groaned. He was pretty sure it could have been worse, a lot worse. And he was also sure that it would get worse if they didn’t get found soon.

“Can you get over to me?” Derek asked and Stiles frowned, squinting at the werewolf who didn’t meet his eyes, instead he seemed focussed on Stiles’ torso. Stiles moaned when he stumbled to his feet before stumbling over to Derek’s side of the room. He slumped down the wall and rested his head back against the cool wall. “Good, Stiles, that’s good. Now grab my ankle.”

Even in his pained state Stiles knew that was a strange request.

“Wh-”

“Just do it. On the skin.” Derek snapped and Stiles sighed, it was hardly the strangest thing to happen to him in the last twenty four hours.

He reached out and wrapped his aching fingers around Derek’s ankle bone. Almost instantly he felt a wave of relief as the pain was sucked out of him. Literally, if the black veins were anything to go by. He glanced up to Derek’s face and saw his grimace. He let go instantly and glared at the werewolf.

“I’m not letting you do that.” He snapped and Derek glared at him.

“Why not? You’re in pain. I can take it away.”

“Because you’re obviously feeling it instead and it’s not worth that.” Stiles said firmly and Derek’s glare intensified.

“It fades quickly. You feel better don’t you?” He snapped and Stiles sighed.

“Yes but you don’t.” Stiles murmured. Now that the pain was gone he suddenly felt ridiculously tired. He closed his eyes, just for a moment. He was asleep before he could realised that he had slumped so that his head was resting against the side of Derek’s leg.


	3. Chapter 3

A week. Seven whole days and nights. They had been here almost eight days if Stiles’ calculations were correct. Every time Johnson or Laurel came in with food Stiles collected the information away. They had been given twenty meals. He could only guess that meant seven days, what with no light to go by. The first day hadn’t been so bad in comparison to now. Stiles had stood in front of Derek and fed the glowering werewolf half of what they’d been given and then he’d sat and dug in himself. After seven days of interrogation, getting steadily worse each time Stiles was finding it difficult to stand, and even more difficult to lift his arms to feed Derek.

He couldn’t help but watch his hand shake as he lifted the bottle of water up to Derek’s lips but he knew that if he stopped feeding Derek no one else would and the werewolf needed to survive. He had a better chance of survival than Stiles did anyway. He was always at least half healed by the time they dragged Stiles in beaten and bruised, and most recently burnt. The only visible marks left on Derek were those left by the handcuffs. By the end of the first day his wrists had been glowing red, like a rash from poison ivy, but it had gotten steadily worse until the handcuffs left constant welts of red raw skin and Derek had to constantly endure blood sluggishly running from the wounds. Like his body was trying to heal but just couldn’t.

Stiles lay down once half the bottle of water was gone.

“Stiles you need to eat something.” Derek said softly and Stiles just closed his eyes.

“I’m going to sleep for a bit.” He whispered and Derek growled.

“Stiles, let me take some of your pain.” Stiles had refused to even let his skin glance against Derek’s since the first time. He could deal with the pain but he wouldn’t let Derek suffer because of it.

“We’ve been through this Sourwolf…” He sighed blinking a few times to clear his vision. He needed something to distract him. “Tell me more about Isaac.”

The curly haired beta was apparently the newest addition to the Hale Pack and one of Cora’s best friends. Cora was Derek’s little sister. He also had an older one; Laura and an older brother; Nate. It sounded nice, having a big family like Derek did. The werewolf still had grandparents, his Mom’s mom and Dad’s mom were still alive and kicking. He also had cousins. His Mom had a brother Peter and his kids were over at Derek’s a lot it sounded like. 

“…Where did I get to?” Derek huffed. He at least seemed to realise that their conversations seemed to help take Stiles’ mind off of the pain.

“Your Mom turned him because his Dad was an abusive dickhead.” Stiles said and Derek nodded.

“Yeah, that was almost three ago. I’ve never seen Cora get so angry at anyone before. But I think she was kind of angrier at herself and us for not realising that Isaac was getting beat up. I just always pictured Isaac’s dad like I remember him from coaching the swim team. He was stern yeah, but he was a good guy. I guess something changed in him when Isaac’s brother died though because after the third time Isaac tried to lie about a black eye being a lacrosse accident my Mom forced him to tell her. She got custody of him and asked him if he wanted the bite when he turned eighteen.” Derek said, he wasn’t usually so talkative, but he guessed that if ever there was a time to become chatty it was now. Since Stiles wouldn’t let him take any of his pain distraction was the only thing he could do to help.

“And your mom bit Erica Reyes too?” Stiles asked. He remembered Erica and Isaac from elementary school, but they had both gone to the other middle and high schools in Beacon Hills. Isaac had had the best Pokémon card collection and he remembered feeling bad for Erica after Jackson had made fun of her for a seizure.

“Yeah. She’s been Cora’s best friend since they went to Middle School together. Mom got so mad when she found out that Cora had told Erica about werewolves but once she cooled off she promised that when she turned eighteen she could ask for the bite if she wanted it.” Derek had been all too happy to introduce Erica into the Pack as a werewolf. She had been Pack already and every seizure she had felt like it physically hurt everyone. Even the humans in the Pack felt physically distressed by them.

“Yeah that’s cool. I bet if my Mom was an Alpha she would have turned Scott already. He’s got really bad asthma. It gets particularly bad in the winter.” Stiles frowned. “He’s probably suffering through it right now. I normally make him herb bags and poultices when he gets an attack but he wouldn’t think to ask my Mom to make them what with me missing and all.”

“I’m sure he’s fine.” Derek said softly. He paused for a minute before he asked, “Tell me more about that prank you pulled together on Finstock.”

“Oh, yeah well it’s mostly Coach’s fault I mean who would sign up to be a teacher when your birthday falls on Devil’s Night.” Stiles smiled, his eyes closing against his will. “I was the brains behind the whole operation obviously…”

Derek listened as Stiles rambled on about the last prank and then all the other pranks throughout the ages that he and Scott had pulled, mostly on a guy called Jackson.

“Hey Derek?” Stiles whispered and Derek hummed. “Can you… I mean it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me… I was just wondering how you knew Kate before. You said she tried to b-burn your family?”

Derek stiffened, he should have expected this question, what with how he reacted every time Kate came to retrieved Stiles.

“Yeah. She seduced me when I was in high school. I told her things about my house and she set in on fire with everyone in it.” Derek said shortly and Stiles let out a horrified breath.

“Was anyone badly hurt?” He whispered and Derek nodded.

“All of the wolves got out okay, I mean it was excruciating but we healed.” Derek said softly, he hated thinking about the fire. How it had been his fault. “But we have humans in the Pack too. Aunt Bethany, Uncle Peter’s … she didn’t make it… Davey, their kid, he was only six months old when it happened, he almost died. He’s got really bad scarring pretty much all over. It’s mostly superficial now but it took months to heal. My Mom offered to bite him but Peter said no. With infants the mortality rate from the bite is over eighty percent. Mom’ll ask again when he’s eighteen I’m sure… Davey acts like the scars don’t bother him. He’s such a cheerful kid, but people are cruel you know? They stare even when they don’t mean to and he’s really shy because of it. The wolves in our family don’t go to public school until middle school, until we’re sure we can control the shift but Davey’s human, he should have gone to kindergarten last year and I don’t know whether Uncle Peter will let him go to Middle school when he’s old enough either.”

“…Shit.” Stiles hissed after a long moment of silence. “That bitch.”

Derek closed his eyes, contenting himself with listening to Stiles’ heartbeat for a few minutes. It had become something he had come to rely on. He couldn’t relax in the cell alone, couldn’t shut his mind down until he could hear Stiles’ breathing, his heartbeat. He frowned when it jumped.

“Wait. You said it was excruciating.” Stiles said and Derek nodded. “Were you in the house when it happened?”

“…Yeah. I wasn’t when it started but me and Laura could smell the fire on our way home from school so we ran. I had to get everyone out.” Derek said. “I think I went in four times? It gets hazy after that but I think my Dad pinned me down when I tried to go in again. The next few weeks I kind of blacked out.”

He heard Stiles’ swallow and wished, not for the first time that he could get out of the chains and sit next to the human. Wrap him in his arms until he had siphoned off all of the pain he could practically smell. It had been bad enough smelling the blood on Stiles when he came back from his ‘sessions’ with Kate but after the last time he had come back smelling like charred meat. It wasn’t a smell that you forgot quickly and he had raged for a long time that evening, trying to break his chains before Stiles got him calmed down.

“Derek…” Derek jumped, he had thought Stiles had fallen asleep given how slow his heart rate and breathing had gotten. It wasn’t a good sign.

“Yeah Stiles?”

“When you get out of here-”

“We.” Derek said firmly. “When _we_ get out of here.”

Stiles sighed and shook his head. “Come on Derek, I think at least one of us needs to be realistic about this. I don’t think I can last much longer.”

“Don’t say that!” Derek wasn’t even surprised by the desperation in his voice. He needed Stiles to live. If Stiles gave up… if Stiles died while he was in here, he would go out of his mind.

“Derek please, just listen to me. I’m not giving up. I’ll fight to my last breath. But if you get out and I don’t-” Derek stopped his protests when Stiles raised a shaking hand to wave him quiet. “ _If_ you get out and I don’t. Can you tell some people some things for me?”

Derek’s eyes stung with tears and he wanted to protest, to reject the very idea that Stiles wouldn’t make it out of here with him. But he could do this for Stiles. He could promise this. “Yeah. Okay. What do you want me to say?”

“Tell my Mom and Dad I love them okay? Same with Scott and Lydia and you have to tell Scott I’ll haunt his ass if he doesn’t watch Star Wars.” Stiles was smiling but Derek didn’t find it the slightest bit funny. “Tell my Mom that I was the one who broke Aunt Gloria’s vase okay? I was always going to tell her that.”

“You can still tell her that.” Derek growled and Stiles’ smile wobbled before falling completely, his bruised and swollen face twisted in grief.

“Derek please.” It was the tone that got to Derek, the absolute desperation.

“…A-Aunt Gloria’s vase.” He forced out and Stiles nodded.

“Yeah. Thanks.” Stiles sighed, he was silent for a long while after that. Long enough that if Derek hadn’t been a werewolf and been monitoring Stiles’ heartbeat so closely he would have thought the human had passed away. “…I wish I could have met your family.”

“You still can. When we get out of this.” Derek snarled and Stiles smiled weakly.

“Yeah… When we get out.” Stiles did fall asleep then. It didn’t calm Derek any, but he was glad Stiles wasn’t feeling the pain.

That night, was the longest night Derek could ever remember having in his entire life and for the rest of his life he would always remember it. Even when his family had all been hurt by the fire, he had been in and out of consciousness enough to barely register it. But he spent that whole night listening to Stiles’ heartbeat, to his rattling breaths. He was pretty sure that Stiles had been kicked in the ribs and had at least two broken ones, it physically hurt to listen to but he didn’t let up for a second. If Stiles died and he missed it he would never forgive himself.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day started the same as all the others, with two major changes, the first being that Stiles didn’t wake when Derek growled at the door. He heard the footsteps outside their cell. Heard the key in the lock and the door swung open to reveal Kate but also the second major change. There was someone new with her; an old man with a grandfatherly face but with cold eyes who sneered when he glanced over at Derek.

“Is this the boy?” He asked Kate who nodded and Derek snarled, fighting the chains. They had done enough to Stiles. The old man knelt down beside Stiles and stroked a finger down his unconscious face. “Interesting.”

“What do you want me to do Dad?” Kate asked and Derek shifted completely. Dad. This man was the patriarch of the Argent family. A family of hunters. He was dangerous.

“Take a day off. Find some… inspiration.” The man smiled at the word and Derek felt his stomach turn. “I’ll have a go with Stiles today.”

Derek fought snarling and swearing at the man as he gathered Stiles into his arms. The two hunters didn’t even look at him.

He fought his chains, ignoring the pulsing pain from his wrists just like he had every day since the wounds opened. Eventually though he fell silent. His chest heaved from the exertion and he hit his head back against the wall. It was no use. Whatever they had done to the chains was enough to keep him there. To leave him helpless as they tortured Stiles.

Johnson and Laurel came back after a few hours. They were his regular torturers. They never said anything. Never asked him for any answers. All they did was cause him pain. It differed from punches to knives to matches being burnt out against his torso. But none of it, not a single thing compared to the agony he felt knowing that he would heal while Stiles might die. Stiles could die from what they were doing to him.

They kept Stiles longer than they ever had before and when the old man dragged him back into the room Stiles was unconscious still. Though Derek had no doubt that the old hunter had kept Stiles awake until the very end. Derek shifted and snarled at the man. He just raised an eyebrow at Derek before slamming the door shut behind him.

“Stiles…” Derek whimpered. “Stiles, please wake up.”

Stiles didn’t even twitch.

“Stiles please…” He roared in frustration when the human didn’t respond and pulled at his chains until he fell limp, exhausted and unable to move.

-

Derek twitched when he heard footsteps down the hall. He frowned; they weren’t usually back until the next day. His upper lip curled, the old man had probably decided to try to get some more answers out of Stiles. It only made him proud of Stiles for the fact that even in so much pain he hadn’t said anything about his friend the banshee or his Mom.

The footsteps paused for a long minute outside the door and Derek’s frown deepened. Why were they hesitating? They’d never hesitated before. There was a sudden loud grating noise and Derek flinched when the door was kicked off its hinges into the room.

“Derek!” He felt himself go limp in relief.

“Laura!” He cried. “Laura please you have to help him!”

His sister ran into the room kneeling down beside Stiles.

“Holy shit.” She whispered.

“Take him! Laura take him before they get back! Please Laura, please you have to take him!” Derek cried and Laura shook her head, hurrying to her feet. She went to touch the chains on Derek but jumped back at the barrier. “Laura please just take him and go!”

“Derek. It’s okay. We’re all here. Mom and Peter have the bastards who did it and Dad and these two women we met are looking down the other tunnels for you. They’re looking for someone else too….” Laura glanced at Stiles. “I think it might be him. Derek I’ll be right back I promise okay?”

Derek felt physically sick when his sister ran out of the room but he calmed himself by scenting the air for his Pack. Laura’s scent was the strongest now but if he concentrated he could smell his Mom, his Uncle and Dad. They were here. They were here and safe and alive.

He still tensed when he heard footsteps running outside the room, especially when he didn’t recognise the scent. Two women ran into the room, one was a red head and the other was middle aged but it wasn’t difficult to figure out who she was. She was like an older female version of Stiles. This was Claudia, Stiles’ mother. She ran to her son’s side dropping down beside him and checking him over with clinical practise and Derek remembered Stiles saying his Mom was a nurse.

Lydia (because she couldn’t be anyone else, she was exactly how Stiles had described her) ran over to him and studied the chains around his wrists for a long moment before she tapped a manicured nail against the weakest point and Derek felt the barrier disappear from around his left wrist. He ripped the chain off of the wall as Lydia did whatever she’d done to the other one. In seconds he was free.

He dropped to his knees next to Stiles and grabbed his hand tightly. He felt his head spin at the first wave of pain he took but he didn’t stop. Stiles had been in this pain for a week. Derek could handle it. Everything else faded away, all noise, all sight, all scent. Until it was just him and Stiles’ pain. There was so much. It was worse than anything he’d felt before, the only thing that came equal was the pain he had taken from Davey when he was recovering in the hospital but that pain had been shared by his whole Pack.

“ ** _Derek._** ” The voice of his Alpha was what finally drew him away. He blinked sluggishly, still feeling the echoes of pain. He looked up. His Mom was holding his shoulders, staring into his eyes, her own were glowing red. “Derek that’s enough.”

Derek shook his head and tried to take more of the pain because there was more, so much more. But Talia grabbed one of his arms and his Dad grabbed his other one.

“Derek son, it’s time to stop. We’ll take care of him. But we need to get out of here.” His Dad said squeezing his forearm gently, carefully avoiding his wrists. Derek shook his head again.

“He’s in pain. He’s hurt.” He whimpered and his Dad nodded.

“I know Der, but so are you.” Derek whimpered when Claudia gasped and pressed her hands tight against Stiles’ chest.

“What’s wrong?” Lydia asked reaching out as if to touch her friend but Claudia’s eyes were closed tight, her face pale.

“He said they did something to him.” Derek whispered and those eyes, those eyes that were so identical to Stiles’ shot to his face. “They took his Spark.”

Claudia nodded grimly and she gripped the edge of Stiles’ trousers, pulling them down just enough so his hip bones were free. Derek blinked at the tattoos there. Claudia pressed a finger against one of them, hissing when a thin line of smoke rose from it.

“We need to get him out of here. Now.” She said in a tone that Derek had only ever heard from his Alpha before. He stumbled to help before being held back. Laura. Laura was behind him, holding him back. He snarled at her and she snarled back.

“Der, we’re getting you out of here. You’re only going to get in the way in the condition you’re in.” She snapped and he dropped his eyes. She was right. He knew she was right but everything in him screamed to be closer to Stiles. To not let him out of his sight.

A throat cleared at the door and Derek looked up to see Peter standing there, a frown on his face as he took in Stiles’ prone form.

“Perhaps Derek could ride in the car with Stiles. I imagine it will be difficult to separate these two at this moment in time.” Derek could have kissed his uncle. He nodded vigorously when his Mom looked to him and she nodded.

“Peter, James. Stay here and deal with _them_. Laura, help me carry Stiles to the car.” Derek hovered when Laura and his Mom lifted Stiles carefully, only stopping himself from reaching out when he saw the black lines travelling up their hands. He followed them up the stairs, away from the dungeon they had been trapped in for a week but he didn’t see anything but Stiles’ limp body.

Derek had to blink at the sudden change in light when they stepped outside but ignored it to climb into the waiting car first. Lydia and Claudia climbed in next and then his Mom and Laura carefully laid Stiles down on their laps. Derek got Stiles’ feet but he didn’t care. For a week he had watched Stiles in pain, had even begged the human to touch him just so he could siphon some of it, but Stiles had always refused. He couldn’t refuse now. Derek pressed his hands to Stiles’ ankles and siphoned until he felt dizzy again.

“Stop it.” Derek growled at the red haired girl beside him but she just glared back at him. “You’re going to collapse. You need to stop or you won’t be able to look after Stiles.”

Derek knew that this girl was smart. Stiles had said she was the smartest person in his school. So logically Derek knew that she probably had some sort of understanding of wolf behaviour, even just normal wolves, and so she knew that appealing to his protective feelings would stop him. He wanted with every fibre of his being to keep siphoning the pain but his wolf just growled in agreement and he stopped siphoning the pain even if he did keep his hands pressed against Stiles’ ankles.

Derek jolted when the car finally came to a stop. He blinked out of the window and realised they were at his house. His Mom and Laura took Stiles again and Derek hurried after them as Claudia directed them to lay him down on the couch. A flood of people came into the room, the smells of Pack surrounded him but all Derek could focus on was Stiles.

Derek sank to his knees next to Stiles’ head, barely registering a man he didn’t know sink to his knees beside him. Stiles’ Dad, he smelled like Stiles. There was no one else he could be. Claudia barely spared him a glance before she ran out of the room. It was minutes before she was back holding a large overnight bag.

She dropped it beside her and riffled through it until she found a few sacks of what Derek could only assume were herbs. She demanded a bowl and Nate handed it to her quickly before moving out of the way. His older brother came and pressed his hand into Derek’s hair. It was such a familiar gesture that for a few long moments Derek had to breathe heavily to stop his tears. He was home. They were safe. Claudia was going to save Stiles.

Claudia mixed her herbs and began lathering them onto Stiles’ chest. It was painful to look at, beaten black and purple with various scorch marks and Derek felt bile rise in his throat when he saw the broken ribs, their shape clear under Stiles’ skin.

“Hold him down.” Claudia said, her voice strangled and Derek automatically reached for Stiles’ shoulders. Stiles’ dad grabbed his sides and Derek glanced up to see his Mom holding Stiles’ legs down. Claudia took a deep breath and pressed her hands against Stiles’ abdomen and then she began chanting.

Derek couldn’t understand the words, if he was in a better state of mind he might guess that they were something Slavic but all he could hear was the power ringing behind them. Claudia chanted the words over and over again, until the very air smelled of her power. The lights flickered and the furniture began to shake.

“ _ARGH_!” Derek’s hands tensed when Stiles writhed. He screamed, and screamed until his voice cracked and then he screamed more. Derek’s fingers were going to leave bruises but Stiles was shaking so much, in so much pain he wouldn’t have noticed.

All of a sudden everything stopped. Claudia stumbled backwards and Lydia caught her, Derek frowned down at Stiles. He didn’t seem different. Maybe it hadn’t worked. He looked up at Claudia desperately. She was breathing heavily and sweat glistened on her forehead but she was smiling. She turned her tearful smile to her husband.

“I did it.” She whispered and the Sheriff reached up and pulled his wife into his arms. “I didn’t think I could do it for a moment.”

“Of course you could.” Stiles’ dad said firmly. “Whatever you were doing was going to work because you are amazing.”

Derek let out a sigh of relief before everything started to go fuzzy at the edges. He heard several people call his name but he was already falling backwards into unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

When Stiles woke up, it took him a moment to readjust to what had become the norm. Pain had been a constant companion, as had the hollow feeling in his chest. Now he could only feel the barest of echoes of pain and his chest was burning with the heavy-lightness of his spark. He took a deep breath shifting slightly but as he did so he found himself encumbered by restraints.

He jolted awake and tried to pull away but the restraints tugged tighter at him.

“Stiles. Stiles you’re okay. Stiles it’s just us. You’re fine.” The voice shocked him out of his panic and he spun his head around to see his Mom sitting in a chair by his bed on one side of him, his neck cracked when he spun his head around to see his Dad on the other side. Their hands were clutched around his wrists. He was in a hospital room, he wasn’t in a cell. His parents were here.

“Mom… Dad…” He sobbed, his voice breaking as tears fell down his cheeks. He had no idea what happened, or how they were here but the relief he felt was so heavy that he felt like it would crush him.

“I know _Myszko_ , it’s okay. You’re safe now.” His Mom pulled him into her arms and he sobbed harder at hearing her pet name for him.

“I didn’t tell them anything Mom. I swear I didn’t!” He cried. “They wanted to know about Lydia and you and I didn’t tell them. I promise!”

“Hey, hey it’s okay kiddo.” His dad said from behind him. “Don’t think about that right now okay?”

They sat for a long few minutes just soaking in each other’s presence before something caught at Stiles’ mind and he tried to sit up again but was caught by his parents’ arms.

“Derek! Where is he? We have to go back!” He cried, struggling against their arms. “Mom! Where is he? He was in my cell! Where’s Derek!?”

Stiles felt a hand at his ankle and flinched, drawing away from the unknown hand before he saw who it was: Derek. Derek was safe. Derek was out of the cell with him.

The werewolf stumbled around the bed and Stiles sat up, ignoring the twinge of pain from his body. His Dad move out of the way to give them space, and Derek pulled Stiles into his arms without hesitation. Stiles felt something within him relax and he grasped at the werewolf uncaring of the various wires and tubes running through his arms.

“What happened? The last thing I remember is telling you about Aunt Gloria’s vase.” Derek let out a choked laugh and Stiles gave him a watery smile when he pulled back enough to see Stiles’ face.

“They got us out.” Derek said. “My pack and yours. They teamed up.”

Stiles looked over Derek’s shoulder to see his parents holding each other, but his face flamed red when he saw a whole gathering of people shoving through the doorway. They were obviously trying to be quiet and give Stiles and Derek his moment but now that Stiles had noticed them he couldn’t help but tense. Derek noticed and pulled away. He blushed when he saw his family but stood and motioned to them.

“This is my Pack.” He said, somewhat nervously and Stiles nodded trying to figure out what to say.

“Uh… hello.” He said, wincing but they all just smiled at him. An older woman came forward and Stiles instantly knew who she was. It was all in the way she held herself. This was Talia Hale, Derek’s mother and the Alpha.

“Stiles. It’s nice to see you are finally awake. I’m Talia. Derek’s mom.” Stiles nodded, he couldn’t help but shift away from her. It wasn’t personal, he just didn’t know her and he could feel his instincts telling him to run, to get away from the unknown. “We’ll all leave and give you your space. But before we do I just wanted to thank you.”

“Thank _me_!?” In any other situation Stiles might have been embarrassed about the squeak in his voice.

“Yes. Derek’s told us a lot of what happened in that cell and I want to thank you for keeping my son sane.” Stiles looked at Derek who blushed and looked away.

He shook his head, smiling bewilderedly. “I literally did nothing but talk. He’s the one who kept me alive.”

“All the same, I wish to say that you are always welcome in my home.”

“Thanks… I, uh, I guess.” He stammered and Talia smiled at him before turning a stern look on the rest of Derek’s Pack who all looked extremely put out as they left. Talia gave him one last smile before leaving. Stiles turned to look at Derek who was standing awkwardly between the bed and the door.

“Do you, um, do you want me to leave?” He asked and Stiles rolled his eyes. He opened his arms and Derek practically shot into them.

“Idiot Sourwolf.” He muttered, even as he felt his eyes close. He couldn’t help it. He was just so tired.

-

“Dude!” Stiles woke to Scott’s voice and he was already grinning before he opened his eyes. Scott was standing in the doorway gaping at him and presumably the ridiculously hot werewolf currently wrapped around him. “Seriously! Dude!”

“I know right.” He whispered, because Derek was obviously exhausted if he hadn’t already heard Scott.

“You get kidnapped and come back with a hot boyfriend?” As soon as Scott said it his face dropped and he looked immensely guilty. “I uh, I mean… Sorry.”

“It’s fine Scott. You were joking.” Stiles said even though his chest felt tighter at the reminder. “Though I doubt Derek would appreciate you calling him my boyfriend.”

Scott frowned and sat down in the vacant chair beside his bed.

“Where’s my Mom and Dad?” Stiles whispered.

“My Mom made them go get some rest and a shower. They’ll be back soon.” Scott explained and Stiles smiled, he could always count on Melissa to look after his parents. It was only then he noticed how wrecked Scott looked. He had large black bags under his eyes and his skin looked pale even with his complexion. He looked like hell.

“Dude, you should do the same. When was the last time you slept?” Stiles hissed, wincing when Derek shifted and snuffled into his neck but relaxed when the werewolf didn’t seem inclined to wake.

“I uh…might have passed out from an asthma attack yesterday before they brought you in.” Stiles glared at him but Scott just glared back. “You were missing Stiles! You can’t very well expect me not to join the search parties.”

“I can when it’s the middle of winter and you have severe asthma! Did you even ask my Mom for something to help?” Stiles snapped but he knew the answer from the guilty look on Scott’s face. “Seriously Scott! How did you think you were helping anyone!”

“Well excuse me for caring about you dickhead!” Scott yelled and Stiles winced when Derek stiffened. What happened next happened so fast that Stiles barely had time to blink before Scott was pinned to the wall with Derek’s arm across his neck. Stiles was willing to bet from the growl and Scott’s utterly terrified face that Derek was at least partially shifted.

“Derek!” He yelled once he got his sense back. “Derek! Let him go! He won’t hurt us!”

Slowly Derek backed off, though it looked like it took a great amount of physical effort to do so. Scott fell to the floor panting and clutching at his throat his eyes wide and staring at Derek. Derek backed up until his legs were pressed against Stiles’ bed. Stiles tried to sit up, grunting against the residual pain that crept up now that Derek wasn’t lying with him and Stiles was going to have words about him sucking away Stiles’ pain. Derek spun at the noise and pressed his hand gently against Stiles’ chest stopping him from moving any further.

“Derek, let me up.” Derek growled at him and Stiles just glared. “Derek I’m not a glass doll. Let me sit up.”

Derek glowered at him for a moment longer with his glowing blue eyes before he moved his hand to Stiles’ shoulder and helped him sit up before propping several pillows behind him.

“Great. Now introductions are in order I think. Scott this is Derek Hale, my bunkmate. Derek this is Scott. My BFF.” Derek frowned at Scott. “Yes now Derek you can stop glowering. Me and Scott just had a little disagreement.”

Stiles couldn’t help but think that Derek’s reaction was less to do with what Scott had said and much more to do with the volume. Waking up to loud noises was probably going to be difficult for a while.

“Whoa!” Scott whispered and Stiles winced.

“Yeah, Derek’s kind of a werewolf. It’s why he was taken.” Stiles saw Derek visibly flinch at the reminder and he couldn’t help reaching out and pressing a reassuring hand to Derek’s arm, though he was slightly amazed at how instantly Derek’s whole body relaxed at the touch.

“Yeah I kind of figured that since the rest of his family is too. I never saw them shift though.” Scott hissed, though the look on his face made Stiles realise that he hadn’t fully believed it until now confronted with the irrefutable evidence.

“I know! Pretty unbelievable right?” Stiles said grinning at the bewildered look on his best friend’s face.

“How is it you believe in witches and banshees but werewolves are drawing the line?” Derek asked dryly and Stiles glared at him.

“Witch is a derogatory term. The correct one is either Wiccan or Druid.” He said and Derek rolled his eyes. Stiles ignored him. “So Scott, want to fill us in on what went on without me here?” Stiles asked. “I assume the world didn’t fall to pieces?”

“Dude it was like total chaos! I’ve never seen your Mom so frantic before.” Scott frowned and Stiles instantly copied him. He didn’t like the idea of hurting his parents.

“What about my Dad?” His Dad’s heart wasn’t the healthiest and this scare probably hadn’t helped it any.

“Man, he was like totally the opposite! He went all Liam Neeson from Taken. It was actually kind of scary to watch.” Stiles didn’t know whether to feel impressed or upset at the apparent change in his Dad.

“When did they meet up with my family?” Derek asked and it took Stiles a moment to remember that Derek had probably fallen asleep when he had and probably hadn’t had much time to talk to his family either.

“About four days ago. Stiles’ mom was out doing something she called scrying in the woods and your brother attacked her thinking she was after another one of your family. They were out looking for you too and I guess he brought her to your Mom and then they sort of decided to work together.” Scott explained and Stiles closed his eyes for a moment to fight off a wave of dizziness. “Stiles are you okay?”

“Yeah dude I’m golden.” He said but when he opened his eyes he felt the world swim in front of his eyes.

“You need to rest.” Scott said sternly and Stiles found that between his best friend’s puppy dog eyes and Derek’s eyebrows it was difficult to resist the hands pressing at his chest. Just before he fell asleep a flare of panic had him throwing his arm out to catch one of Derek’s retreating hands.

“Don’t leave…” He pleaded and Derek nodded frowning.

“I wasn’t planning to.” He said lying down next to Stiles and Stiles chuckled when he saw him glare at Scott as if to dare him to say anything.

“Scott buddy. Get my Mom to give you something for your asthma.” He mumbled. “Oh and tell Mom that eucalyptus leaves help more than Coltsfoot to loosen the tightness-”

“Go to sleep Stiles. You can rant at me all you like when you wake up.” Scott berated but his voice was fond. Stiles fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! I hope you all enjoy! I really loved writing this chapter

_He was drowning. He couldn’t breathe. There were hands holding him under the water. He couldn’t breathe! He needed to breathe! The darkness surrounded him, pulled him under. His lungs were burning. He couldn’t breathe. His hands clawed weakly at the ones holding him under but to no effect._

_The water was gone. He was gasping, burning breaths that hurt more than not breathing._

_“Tell me Stiles. Tell me what I want to know.”_

_Dry hands pressed against his throat._

_“Tell me Stiles.”_

_“Tell me about the Banshee.”_

_“Tell me Stiles.”_

_“Stiles.”_

_“Stiles!”_

_“STILES!”_

-

He woke up with a wrenching gasp that burned. For a long second he was back in that room, in the tub of water with Kate leaning above him but then he blinked open his eyes and saw Derek holding him down, kneeling either side of his hips with his hands pressed into Stiles’ shoulders. Stiles felt a burning pain in his cheek and frowned.

“You hit me…” He whispered and Derek frowned down at him.

“You were having a panic attack.” He snapped.

“Oh. Sorry.” Stiles murmured, he closed his eyes for barely a few seconds before Kate’s sick grin flashed in the dark behind his eyelids and he snapped them open. The look Derek was giving him softened.

“It’s not your fault.” Derek whispered. Stiles lay his head back against the pillow and let his eyes roam the room, freezing when they caught sight of his Dad standing barely a hand’s width away, his arm still outstretched no doubt to wake him before Derek stepped in. He blushed when he realised the compromising position they were in and Derek seemed to realise it the same time as him, jumping off him as if he had been burned.

“Stiles.” His Dad said gently, pressing his hand against Stiles’ forehead. Stiles felt tears sting his eyes and he blinked them away. He couldn’t look at his dad. Couldn’t bear the pain in his expression.

“I’m fine Dad.” He said staring up at a fixed point on the ceiling. “I’m fine.”

If he said it enough times it would become true. Power of positive thought and all that.

“Son, it’s okay not to be fine.” The Sheriff said his hand sliding to Stiles’ shoulder. He hesitated. “Do you want me to call your Mom?”

“No!” Stiles protested. He had no doubt that his Mom had done something to bring his Spark back and that had probably cost her a lot of energy. She needed rest. “She needs to sleep. As a matter of fact so do you.”

His Dad shifted uncomfortably for a moment. “We flipped a coin since Melissa wouldn’t let both of us in here looking like we did. We’re switching shifts in a few hours.”

“Dad.” He complained and his Dad glared at him.

“You were missing for more than a week Stiles. If you think that I’m letting you out of either of our sights for more than a minute you have something else coming!” His Dad snapped. Stiles flinched before sighing resigned.

“Fine. But you could at least get them to drag some sort of cot in here for you.” He said and his Dad nodded.

“Fine.” His Dad went out into the corridor and Stiles turned his attention back to Derek who seemed to be trying to sink into the wall.

“Derek, it’s okay.” He said rubbing his hand over his eyes. “It was bound to happen sooner or later, and I doubt it’ll be the last nightmare I have.”

Derek shuffled awkwardly and Stiles frowned.

“What is it?”

Derek huffed frustrated, and sat down on the bed beside him once more. He reached a hand out and let it hover over Stiles’ neck for a moment.

“Can I? Please.” He whispered and Stiles almost protested before the haunted tone in Derek’s voice registered. He studied Derek’s face and saw what he was feeling reflected back at him.

“Derek…” He started but Derek just huffed again.

“You wouldn’t let me take your pain because I was being tortured too. Well now I’m not being tortured and you’re still in pain. I can’t do anything about the nightmares but I can take away your physical pain.” Stiles sighed before nodding. Derek’s hand instantly pressed against his neck and Stiles’ mouth opened in with a soft exclamation of ‘oh’ as the aching pain he hadn’t even fully registered in lieu of his nightmare disappeared up into the black veins on Derek’s arm.

He felt his eyes drop heavily in bliss.

“That’s a really neat trick.” He said and Derek smiled weakly.

“Yeah, the morphine helps too.” Stiles’ eyes drifted sleepily to the tube running into his arm. He hadn’t even realised he was on drugs but it kind of made sense given how crappy he had felt in that cell. There were probably multiple things broken in him. But they were things to worry about when he didn’t have six foot of glorious werewolf pressed against him leeching his pain. His eyes fell shut. Nightmare forgotten and he fell asleep with the last thought that all of his conversations seemed to be cut short by him falling asleep lately.

-

Derek glared at his Mom but she just glared back.

“Derek you need to come home. Just for a short while. Have a shower. Something to eat.” She said firmly and Derek felt his stomach turn at the thought of leaving Stiles.

“I can eat here.” He said steadily but his mom shook her head.

“Derek, you need to have some space away from Stiles. This could become unhealthy very quickly.” Derek’s eyes flashed blue.

“We were trapped together for more than a week Mom. We were _tortured_ together. I’m not leaving him.” He snapped, but he felt bad when he saw the upset look on his Mom’s face. His own glare weakened for a second before crumbling altogether and then he was wrapped in his Mom’s arms. He had been taller than her for years but he still felt like a little kid like this. One of her hands wrapped around his shoulders, the other reaching up and petting his hair. “He _needs_ me Mom.”

“Derek. Please. Your Pack needs you too.” Talia whispered back and he pressed his face into her shoulder. “We need to be close and we can’t do that here. We need to feel that you’re alive. That you’re okay.”

Derek swallowed but he knew she was right. Even as she said it he could feel the wolf under his skin writhing with the need to be with his Pack.

“I know Mom. I-I know that… but Stiles.” The name came out in a strangled whisper.

“Just for today, then you can come back. He’s being released tomorrow. I’ve asked Claudia if she would allow you to visit Stiles in her home and she said yes. Come home today and then tomorrow you can go back and see him in his room.” Talia said and Derek hesitated before nodding. He pulled away.

“Okay. I’m just. I’m going to say goodbye.” Derek said and Talia nodded smiling, she reached up and ran her thumb along his brow line just like she had when he was a kid still learning to control the shift.

“I’ll wait here for you.” She said watching as her son strode back into Stiles’ hospital room. It was a strange feeling that she had watching her son with Stiles. She had only met the boy briefly, he had barely been awake throughout it but she had also been working with Claudia, John and his friends to get him back for half a week. In that time she had overheard enough conversations to know that the boy was well loved. It was odd that she felt such a connection to the boy without having been in the room with him for more than a few minutes. It was something she’d have to talk to James about; he always helped calm her mind on such matters.

He had always been better with the emotional matters of their Pack. Give her an enemy to crush, a battle to fight or even a diplomatic situation and she would win, would get the best deal for her Pack. Derek had always been similar to her in that, but James had always been the heart of her Pack. He was the one Laura went to with her first crush, the one Nate asked for help with bullies, the one who had been Derek’s anchor for the first five years of his life.

The enemy was crushed. They had captured and dealt with Derek’s kidnappers, both of them. But her son was still hurt, still injured in a way she couldn’t heal, couldn’t draw away. She was overcome with a sudden sorrow that she hadn’t felt since the fire. The first time her son had been changed irreparably and she was certain that this event would change her son a second time. For the better or worse was to be decided yet but she knew that this Stiles Stilinski would play a key part in it.

-

Derek’s mind was on Stiles the whole journey back to the house. His knees jittered with a need to run back to the hospital. He had explained to Stiles that he needed to be with his pack and though Stiles had said he was fine with it, that he understood, Derek could smell the agitation, the fear on his skin. He didn’t know whether Stiles was scared that he wouldn’t come back, or that someone would get him but Derek had to leave before he changed his mind. He didn’t want his mom to have to command him to come home and he knew if he had stayed any longer he would have just curled up in Stiles’ bed burying his face into Stiles’ side so he could smell him beneath the sterile hospital smell until his heartbeat levelled out.

“Derek. We’re here darling.” Talia said softly and Derek startled. He blinked out of the window at his house. It was as if it was something of a dream.

He opened the door and had barely stepped outside before he was bowled over. He flinched away before the familiar smell brought him out of his memories. Cora. His little sister.

She was wrapped around him tightly, her arms squeezing tight enough to hurt. He brought his own arms up to surround her. She hadn’t hugged him like this since the fire, when she was nine.

“Glad you’re okay.” She murmured into his neck and Derek nodded sitting up. He had barely loosened his arms on Cora before another set of arms were around him pulling him up to his feet in a hug. He let himself lean heavily against Nate. Nate who was always so calm, so in control was shaking with what Derek could smell as rage and fear and relief.

Before he knew what was happening he was in the middle of his parents’ bed surrounded by Pack. Laura and Nate were pressed against his sides, Cora curled up around his legs. His Mom and Dad were sitting up at the headboard, their hands patting over his shoulder and head as if to remind themselves that he was alive with them. Erica and Isaac were curled together somewhere to his left with Philippa and Davey had crawled up onto Derek’s chest curling up there like a wolf pup despite being human. His eyes searched the room until he found Peter standing protectively in the doorway and Derek felt something in his relax completely. He was safe. No one would get him here with his Pack. He was safe and they were all here with him.


	7. Chapter 7

Stiles grinned as he looked around the room. It looked exactly the same as when he left it. A complete and utter mess to the untrained eye but Stiles always protested that he had a system for everything there. All the different leather-bound books lying half open on every surface, the various potted plants and packets of dried herbs and the general clutter of his personality were all strewn about the room. But if anyone asked Stiles where his old Lacrosse bat was he could find in in seconds, the same for that latest batch of Motherwort. It was chaos but it was organised chaos. He had been planning on moving into a flat with Lydia and Scott before his kidnapping so some of his stuff had started to be packed away into cardboard boxes in preparation but he was pretty sure he’d gotten distracted by something or another because the rest of the boxes were still piled away in a corner of his room.

His Mom tutted at his expression and he just grinned up at her.

“It’s good to be home.” He had only meant it as a glib comment but as soon as the words left his lips a haunted look appeared in his mom’s eyes and he instantly felt bad. “Mom I didn’t…”

“Oh I know Małe Światło. I know.” She perched on the edge of the bed next to him and brushed back his hair from his forehead. Her endearment had his hand reaching for his chest Małe Światłomeant Little Light in Polish. It was something his Mom had called him ever since he could remember even before he knew it’s true meaning. The relief of having the physical presence of his Spark back brought tears to his eyes. “When I found you _Myszko_ you were barely breathing. You were beaten black and blue and I could see your broken ribs. But none of that scared me.”

“I know Mom. It didn’t scare me either.” Stiles took her hands in his own revelling in the small pulse of his Spark at recognition of the bond with his mother.

“The bond disappeared with you. I couldn’t feel you. When you were there on the floor…” His mom paused drawing a few deep breaths to calm herself. “When I realised that your Spark was gone I thought you would die. Broken bones and bruises you can recover from but I didn’t know if I could bring your Spark back.”

“Mom I’m fine now.” He said softly and she shook her head.

“It was dark magic that did that to you. Dark magic that I’ve never attempted before. Bringing your Spark back was dangerous to both of us." Claudia said smoothing her fingers against the skin of his hands. “I don’t think anyone realises how far away you were. How close to dead. How close to undead.”

Stiles throat was dry when he swallowed. After his mom had explained his Spark to him when he was ten he had researched the hell out of the topic. Of course a lot of his google searches were dead ends but with his Mom’s help he had found out everything possible on the subject. One of the recurring topics was of a Spark a few centuries ago who had drained his Spark doing dangerous magic, he had become a vegetable. Unable to move or even speak. As close to undead as possible.

“I’m fine Mom. I’m still here.” Claudia nodded closing her eyes tightly and squeezing his fingers before letting go. She stood and shrugged as if shaking off the topic.

“You really need to organise your room. When the Hales came to try and catch a scent we didn’t know what clothes were freshest.” She stated dryly and Stiles’ face flushed.

“They were routing through my dirty laundry!” He exclaimed and his Mom smiled shrugging.

“We did what we had to find you. Turns out it was a smart move. Whoever took you and Derek obviously didn’t think we’d team up to find you. They did something to warp his scent so they couldn’t track him and they hide you from scrying.” His mom started folding his clothes as she spoke but Stiles didn’t think it was a conscious thing.

“So Derek’s Pack smelled me and found us through my scent.” Stiles couldn’t help but smile. “Must be pretty pungent.”

Claudia let out a huff of laughter.

“You should get some rest.” She said and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Mom I’ve done nothing but sleep for what feels like months! I don’t think I could fall asleep if I tried!” Stiles protested. “When do you think I’ll have the all-clear to go back to the shop? I bet Lydia’s missing me by now.”

“Actually everything went a lot smoother without you.” Stiles let out a groan of pain when the new voice had him startling pulling at his broken ribs. He was really missing his morphine and his werewolf pain killer right now. Lydia stood with her hands on her hips surveying the room with a haughty expression.

“Oh come on! You missed me really!” He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes.

“Please, what would I miss? You messing up all of our displays, or your sarcastic comments, or you breaking all of the new shipment of glass jars simultaneously.” Stiles’ grin just widened and Lydia smirked at him as she strutted over and threw herself down on the bed beside him. He knew she missed him really. “The only reason I wanted you back was to stop Scott’s wounded puppy look.”

Stiles felt a twinge in his chest that had nothing to do with the physical injuries. He hated that his absence had hurt his friends so much. His Mom gave him a soft smile before leaving the room to give them some space.

Lydia leant carefully against his shoulder so as not to cause him any more pain. He frowned and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Lyds, I’m fine. You know that right?” He asked quietly and he could physically feel Lydia close herself off from the question.

“It’s not about you being fine now.” She snapped. “I screamed four times when you were gone.”

Stiles shuddered. Lydia only screamed when someone was dangerously close to death. He had realised it wasn’t good, especially towards the end but he hadn’t realised he had been so close to death so many times.

“I spent the entire week listening to voices scream and whisper in my head without understanding a word of what they were saying. Do you realise how useless I felt Stiles? All I kept picking up was flickering lights and water and fire and pain. I could feel a ghost of your pain. It’s nothing to what you were feeling but I knew it was bad Stiles. And I couldn’t find you.” Lydia’s voice was steel but Stiles knew her well enough that he could hear the slightest tremble at the end of her speech.

“Lyds. I’m not going to lie.” He paused thinking how to comfort her. “It was horrible. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. The worst fear. And if it wasn’t for Derek I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have survived as long as I did. I’m pretty sure it’s going to take a long time to get over it. I’ve… I’ve been having nightmares and a couple of panic attacks. It’s worse when Derek’s not here.”

Last night had been particularly painful, waking up had been disorientating without Derek there to ground himself on. To remind himself that they were both safe. That Derek was no longer chained up with those horrid handcuffs drawing blood with every move.

“Stiles…”

“But I will get over it. I will move past it.” His mouth set in a firm line. “I will be fine.”

Lydia nodded and let out a long breath.

“Scott will be over later. He’s finishing up a shift at Deaton’s.” Lydia said and Stiles nodded smiling, it dropped when he saw the sharp glint in Lydia’s eye. “So Scott tells me you had a hunk draped over you for the last few days at the hospital?”

“Yeah that’s Derek who I’m pretty sure you met.” Stiles rolled his eyes and Lydia raised one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

“Yes but at the time you were unconscious and he was half out of his mind. I was a bit preoccupied to be staring at his ass.” Stiles spluttered for a few seconds.

“You! I! Um… No! I mean we were captured together! That’s no good basis for any sort of relationship!” He protested and that eyebrow just lifted higher.

“I said nothing about a relationship. I was only saying he’s apparently hot.” She said and Stiles gulped.

“Well it’s hardly my fault. I thought I would be spending the last days of my life with this guy, who just happened to be like extreme levels of hotness. Who wouldn’t start fantasizing about a scenario other than the one we were in?” Stiles blushed and Lydia softened her gaze slightly.

“From what I saw of him and from what Scott told me, he seemed pretty attached to you too.” Stiles shook his head.

“I’m pretty sure that’s the whole situational Stockholm syndrome talking.” Stiles sighed.

“I’m letting that miraculous amount of idiocy slide Stilinski, because of extenuating circumstances, but I know that you that Stockholm syndrome only applies if you were the one who kidnapped and tortured him.” Stiles flinched; Lydia had never been one to mince her words though she did look sorry for the reminder. “Yes it’s not the ideal start to any relationship but maybe if you give it a month or two to let the situation settle slightly you could give it a try.”

“Yeah except for the part where I’m pretty sure Derek has absolutely no romantic or sexual feelings towards me at all. I’m also pretty sure that he just feels responsible for me. I mean he was there healing away from his t-torture while I wasn’t and I wouldn’t let him take any of my pain because you know…” Lydia let out a soft ‘ah’.

“So that was why he practically knocked himself unconscious taking your pain when we got him out of the chains.” Stiles’ mouth dropped open.

“He what!?” He exclaimed.

“Yeah. It took his Mom using what I can only assume was her Alpha voice to call him away.” Lydia said and Stiles stared at her for a moment before frowning darkly.

“I told him not to do it when we were there because he was getting hurt too. He didn’t need my pain on top of it.” He muttered and Lydia rolled her eyes.

“I’m pretty sure you lost veto power when you practically died.” She said and Stiles sighed resting his head back against his pillows.

“…When can I go back to work so I have something other than all of this to think about?” He asked after a long pause.

“The doctors said two weeks, and then another two weeks of light activity only. But I’m pretty sure you and your Mom know some sort of magic potion that can have you healing faster.” Stiles smiled and elbowed her softly.

“We don’t make potions. We mix herbs into poultices and bags and simply enhance the potency of the herbs.” Stiles said, it was a familiar argument, one he had with Scott on several occasions. He knew Lydia was only saying it to distract him but he didn’t care. It worked.

“Whatever you call it I’m pretty sure you can be back on light duties in a week or so and then another few days to heal completely.” She paused. “Physically anyway.”

Stiles sighed and closed his eyes. He was pretty sure even a week confined to his bed would make him go mad.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm am SO sorry that i haven't updated in a while! I've had a tonne of essays and revision to do for my end of year stuff! Third year uni is way too stressful!! Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter, as a treat another one will be up tomorrow :D
> 
> Enjoy...

“No.” Derek said sternly and Laura and Erica pouted up at him. If he hadn’t grown up with them he might have caved. “No.”

“Come on Derek. We want to meet this kid.” Cora whined. He cursed in his head, he thought she wouldn’t get involved in this discussion, he was obviously wrong.

“He’s not a kid. He’s the same age as you.” Derek said and Laura’s eyebrow rose. Derek turned pleading eyes to Nate who was flipping pancakes in the kitchen with Isaac. “Nate, back me up here.”

“Derek you’ve been missing for over a week. You come back and spend days at the hospital where Mom told us we weren’t allowed to interrupt because you needed time to separate from this Stiles of your own accord. You come back yesterday and finally allow us to protect you like our wolves have been clamouring to do since we found you and now, not eight hours later you want to go alone to Stiles’ house. Forgive me for not backing you up little bro. You’re on your own.” Derek glared at his brother before sighing resolutely.

“Fine. But you have to ask permission from his parents when we get there.” He held up a hand to stop their excited exclamations. “And if Stiles feels overwhelmed at all you have to leave. Even if he doesn’t say it, _we_ can smell it so you will leave.”

“Fine!”

“Okay!”

“No problem bro!” The girls practically climbed over each other in an attempt to get to the car faster. Derek glared at Nate who just smiled and walked closer to his little brother.

“See you later Der.” He ran a hand over Derek’s head and Derek felt something in him settle.

“You could come if you want. Isaac, you too.” Derek said and Nate smiled.

“I’m pretty sure your Stiles is going to have enough to contend with, with those three.” Nate said turning back to the pancakes. “Be sure to bring him over soon though. I’d like to meet him when he’s not unconscious.”

Derek nodded and sent a questioning look to Isaac who hesitated.

“I’m pretty sure you are the least threatening person in this family Isaac.” He said. “If you want to come I have no problem with it.”

“Thanks.” Isaac smiled shyly before following Derek out to the car. Erica and Cora were piled in the back of Laura’s car and his older sister was leaning against it waiting.

“I’ll drive.” She said firmly and Derek didn’t have it in him to argue. Whatever option got him to Stiles faster was the option he wanted to take. There was something unsettled about his wolf from the distance. He needed to see Stiles. Just check to see if he was okay. Then he could leave again… Probably.

Isaac jumped in the back next to Erica and Derek sat down in the passenger seat, clutching at the door handle to calm himself down. He didn’t want to react like he had when meeting Scott. The guy obviously hadn’t meant any harm but Derek had practically thrown him against a wall. He needed to be in better control of himself.

“Derek?” He blinked and looked to Laura who was staring at him worriedly. He had obviously missed her asking something.

“Sorry what?” He asked. She studied him for a long moment.

“…Are you okay. You know, obviously you aren’t but you’d tell us if there was something else right?” Laura asked and Derek shrugged.

“There isn’t anything else to tell. You caught the kidnappers. It’s over. I just want to check on Stiles and given that I spent a week locked up watching him get tortured I don’t think that’s such an unusual request.” Laura’s mouth snapped shut and Derek turned to look out the window, forcefully ignoring the sudden silence of the car. Yes, it might not be that strange a thing that he wanted to check on Stiles after what they had gone through together but he was also pretty sure that the almost obsessive need to be close to Stiles wasn’t normal, nor was the desperate want he had to curl into Stiles, bury his nose in his neck and just breathe. He put it out of his mind. He could control himself. He _would_ control himself or he might not get to see Stiles again and that would be something he couldn’t handle.

Apparently Laura knew the way to Stiles’ house quite well. He assumed she had been the go between for his Mom and Stiles’ when they were busy trying to do their own separate searches. She pulled up next to a large blue jeep and Derek had to stop himself from throwing himself out of the car at wolf speed and leaping up to the window he just knew belonged to Stiles.

Instead he forcibly moved his feet at a measured pace until he reached the front door, and then he rang the bell.

The girls and Isaac crowded around behind him as they waited for someone to open the door. In the maybe thirty seconds it took Derek could feel his wolf clamouring to get out of his skin and tear down the barrier between him and Stiles.

“Oh Derek.” Claudia smiled brightly at him when she saw him. “You’re looking much better. Please come in. All of you.”

They crowded through the door into the corridor and Derek suddenly felt extremely nervous. What if Stiles didn’t want to see him?

“Stiles is upstairs with Lydia. You’re welcome to go up.” Claudia said softly and Derek turned to face her.

“I uh, first I wanted to thank you. For helping my Pack.” Derek said and she shook her head.

“It was your Pack that found Stiles, Derek. If anything I owe you a lifetime of gratitude.” She said and Derek nodded graciously. That sort of thanks wasn’t the sort you brushed off. Even amongst humans. “Go on up.”

Derek led the way up the stairs, using his sense of scent to guide him to Stiles’ room. The knot in his stomach loosened when he made out Stiles’ voice laughing. He knocked on the door and held his breath.

“Come in!” Derek stepped into the room, his eyes instantly went to Stiles who was lounging on the bed with Lydia. The human sat up straighter when he saw Derek. “Sourwolf! Hey!”

Derek couldn’t help but glower when he could practically feel his sisters perk up at the name.

“Sourwolf?” Laura smirked pushing past him into the room. “Hello there Stiles. I don’t think we’ve officially met. I’m Laura, Derek’s older sister.”

She strode over and held her hand out with all the authority of a future Alpha. The other wolves gathered into the room and Derek instantly regretted bringing them when he saw Stiles’ tense on the bed, though he didn’t hesitate to take Laura’s hand.

“Nice to finally meet you.” Stiles smiled weakly. He looked past her to the other wolves and gave them a small wave. “Hey there guys.”

“They wanted to meet you.” Derek said apologetically and Stiles shrugged his smile widening.

“I wanted to meet them too remember?” Derek frowned, he remembered all too well how those could have been Stiles’ last words. “Anyway let me guess. That’s Cora, Isaac and Erica.”

Stiles pointed to each one in turn and Lydia rolled her eyes.

“Yeah lucky guess genius.” She huffed. “Given that we went to elementary with Isaac and Erica.”

“You remember me?” Isaac asked, before blushing to the roots of his hair.

“Dude! You had the best Pokémon card collection of anyone I knew! I’m pretty sure me and Scott were in love with you for a couple of weeks back then. Just ask my Dad!” Stiles grinned when Isaac’s blush darkened and Derek couldn’t help but smile a little, Isaac was so shy nowadays it was nice to see him interact with someone who wasn’t Pack.

“So I have some questions about werewolves if you don’t mind?” Lydia asked curling her legs underneath her as she sat up straighter.

“Fire away.” Cora said and Stiles groaned.

“Bad idea.” He muttered ignoring the glare Lydia shot his way. What followed was probably the most in depth discussion Derek had ever been a part of concerning werewolves. After half an hour or so Lydia had moved to Stiles’ desk chair with the rest of the wolves sitting at her feet in a circle as she led the discussion on the properties of mistletoe vs wolfsbane on a werewolf’s immune system.

Derek slunk around the room until he was perched on the bed beside Stiles. Stiles just grinned at him and patted the pillow next to him.

“This is going to go on a while longer.” He said acting put upon but Stiles had asked a load of questions about wolves too so Derek knew he was just as interested. Derek shifted onto the bed and he felt his whole body light up with how close he was to Stiles. He couldn’t help but reach out and tap a finger against Stiles’ wrist. Stiles jumped before glaring down at the finger which was now leeching the pain. “Dude no.”

“You’re in pain.” Derek said simply and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Not that much.” He muttered.

“Enough.” Derek said raising an eyebrow, daring Stiles to contradict him but Stiles just sighed and settled further into the pillows, the tension that hadn’t quite left his shoulders leeching out of him with the rest of the pain. Stiles glared at him when he noticed the smug look that slipped onto Derek’s face.

“Don’t gloat, it’s not attractive.” He snarked and Derek’s smirk just widened. Stiles groaned and closed his eyes. “It’s ridiculous how tired this whole thing has made me.”

“Do you want us to leave?” Derek’s smirk fell and was replaced by concern.

“Nah man. Just stay here for a while. I’m listening but I’m just resting my eyes.” Stiles closed his eyes and Derek couldn’t help but smile fondly when his head started to loll to one side. He settled further onto the bed until his whole side was pressed up against Stiles. The human slowly sank down into the bed until his head was resting against Derek’s shoulder while he ‘rested his eyes’.

Derek ignored the look Laura was throwing him and focussed instead on the argument Lydia and Erica were having, it seemed to have moved on from werewolves finally, though now they were arguing about some Boutique or another. He didn’t even realise he had closed his eyes until Isaac was shaking him awake.

“We’re going to go back Der. See you soon.” Derek nodded and just shuffled closer to Stiles. He couldn’t remember being this relaxed in years.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised! The extra chapter for being such wonderful reviewers and leaving so many kudos! You guys are utterly overwhelming with all your support! Thank you!

Stiles glared at his reflection. His eyes traced over the yellowing bruises, the cuts that he’d been told wouldn’t scar, the ones that he’d been told would. The burn marks on his shoulders where Kate had extinguished her cigarettes. Each and every mark made him flinch in memory but he refused to be cowed by his own reflection. He’d never been what you’d call a ‘looker’ he could deal with not liking what he saw in the mirror. He’d had years of practise.

He’d woken that morning alone in his bed even though he distinctly remembered not being so lonesome when he fell asleep the afternoon before. He had snapped awake that morning from a vicious nightmare involving an old guy he didn’t really remember but was pretty sure was a memory. It had left him panting for breath through his sobs. He’d made his way to the bathroom eventually, managing to throw up into the toilet. He’d had another panic attack when the shower triggered memories of Kate holding him under the water.

His Dad had thankfully heard him and had barged into the bathroom, pulling him from the shower and wrapping him in towels until he could see straight again. It had taken him a while to convince his Dad that he was okay to get dressed on his own. His mom had promised that she’d take him to Deaton’s with her that afternoon and Stiles wasn’t going to miss his first outing.

“ _Myszko_ are you ready to go?” His Mom called and Stiles hurriedly pulled a shirt over his head. He hurried out of his room and down the stairs to where his Mom was waiting at the door. She studied him with narrowed eyes when he was panting heavily by the time he reached her. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

“Mom I’ve always been unfit. This changes nothing.” He grinned at her, forcing himself to not start wheezing from the pain from his creaking ribs.

“If you’re sure.” She said frowning and he just shrugged walking past her out to the car. She followed him out and slipped into the driver’s seat.

“So when did they all leave yesterday?” Stiles asked trying to sound nonchalant.

“About six. Lydia said you’d fallen asleep.” Claudia said and Stiles nodded.

“Yeah, I guess conversation took more out of me than I was expecting.” Stiles said and Claudia nodded. Stiles paused for a moment. “Mom… did you know about werewolves before you met the Hales?”

“…No.” Stiles narrowed his eyes, not believing her. She sighed. “I mean, I always figured that we weren’t the only supernatural thing out in the world. But I never had any proof. I’d always thought there was something different about Alan though. He’s always seemed more than the average Wiccan but I could never put my finger on it.”

“So what? He’s a werewolf too?” Stiles asked confused and Claudia shook her head with a smile.

“No. He’s their emissary.” She said and Stiles frowned.

“So he what? Discusses politics with Talia?” He asked and Claudia huffed.

“No, he explained it to me briefly last week. All werewolf packs need an Emissary, a druid who keeps them connected to humanity. Alan is the Emissary of the Hale Pack. He couldn’t tell me because there was no immediate need to when we met.” Claudia said though she was frowning. “It certainly explains a lot about him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Alan, he wanted to train you when he first met you.” Stiles’ mouth dropped open.

“Wait. Seriously?” He asked, he was pretty sure Deaton didn’t like him. He always stared at him disapprovingly whenever Stiles picked Scott up from the vets.

“Yes. I think it’s because he knew how much good you could for the Pack as a Spark. I wouldn’t let him though because it’s been tradition in my family for the parent of the child to teach them unless there were extenuating circumstances.” Claudia said and Stiles frowned.

“So why are we going to see him today?” He asked as they pulled up into the vets.

“Partly because he’s got a few herbs that I’d like to buy to try out a new poultice for your burns.” Stiles winced. “But also because I want answers. I want to know if he knows who those two were that took you.”

Ice ran down Stiles’ spine and his hands gripped tightly at the door handle of the car.

“Stiles? What’s wrong?” His Mom called, reaching out as if to touch him but stopped before she touched him.

“Two?” He whispered his eyes wide. “You said two.”

“Yes. There were two people. A man and a woman.” Stiles swallowed dryly.

“Was the woman blonde?” Claudia shook her head.

“She had dark hair.” His Mom paled when she realised what was the matter. “There were more?”

“Yeah. A woman. Kate Argent, she was the main… you know.” Stiles swallowed again. “I’m pretty sure there was another guy. I don’t really remember him but he was old. H-He did a lot of stuff too.”

Claudia’s hands clenched on the steering wheel unconsciously before she forcibly relaxed them and with one she took Stiles’ hand.

“Okay. Okay Stiles don’t worry.” She said softly. “I’m going to ring your Dad right now and tell him and then I’ll call Talia and tell her. We’ll find them. They won’t get you again.”

It wasn’t him he was worried about. He was pretty sure that they were smart enough to think before their next move. They’d watch him. See who he spent his time with. They would bide their time until they found Lydia and his Mom. Claudia pulled into the Vet car park and she started to ring his dad.

Stiles let out a yelp when there was a knock on his window. He grunted in pain as he spun around to see Talia Hale frowning down at him through the window. Stiles pushed the door open.

“Are you both okay? I could smell your anxiety from my car.” Stiles looked around the parking lot to see another car park next to them. A guy Stiles didn’t remember was leaning against the hood.

“I’m… I’m.” He paused to catch his breath. He needed to calm down.

“There were more than two of them Talia.” Claudia said and Talia’s eyes flashed red.

“What?” She snarled.

“There was at least one other. A woman with blonde hair. Stiles called her Kate Argent.” Talia tensed so suddenly that Stiles flinched away as if she was going to hit him.

“Stiles. Are you sure that was her name?” The other guy, who was suddenly a lot closer, demanded and Stiles was pretty sure this was Derek’s Uncle Peter. He nodded.

“Yeah. Derek told me what she almost did.” Stiles hesitated. “Didn’t Derek tell you it was her?”

“He hasn’t told us anything of what happened. He, understandably, doesn’t like to talk about it. He must have assumed all the hunters were there when we got you out.” Talia said a dark look on her face. Peter was actually growling, but he stopped when Talia rested her hand against her brother’s arm.

“I’m going to rip her throat out. With my teeth.” He snarled and she nodded.

“If I don’t get there first.” She snapped before turning to Claudia. “Would you come to our home to discuss this, you’re welcome too Stiles. I’m sure Derek will appreciate your company when we tell him this.”

“Yeah, I guess.” In truth Stiles felt his stomach jump at the thought of seeing Derek again. He couldn’t help it. He just felt so much calmer when the werewolf was near him. Peter gave him an odd look and he blushed, yeah this whole ‘werewolves can hear heartbeats’ thing was going to be a real bitch.

“First we have things to discuss with Alan.” Claudia said climbing from the car.

“May we accompany you?” Talia asked and Claudia nodded.

“We were going to ask him about his relationship to your Pack actually. He promised he’d tell me more once we found Stiles.” Stiles followed his Mom into the surgery and Deaton was waiting for them there. He led the four of them into a private office and Stiles was suddenly, extremely glad that Scott had the morning off. He didn’t want his friend to see him like that.

Stiles couldn’t help but zone out of the conversation his Mom and Deaton were having. A lot of it were questions about werewolves that Lydia had asked the night before. He jumped violently when he felt a hand on the back of his neck, but the pain from the movement was almost immediately leeched away and he looked up to see Derek’s uncle staring at him.

“I…um. I’m Stiles.” He said nervously and Peter raised an amused eyebrow.

“Yes I know. I’m Derek’s Uncle Peter.” Stiles nodded.

“I figured.” He said nervously his eyes glancing down to where Peter’s hand was still pressed against his neck. “Thanks.”

“You are in pain. I don’t like seeing anyone in pain.” Stiles winced, he guessed Kate’s name brought up a lot of bad memories about his losing his wife and the fact that his kid who was still heavily scarred from their first experience with her.

“You have nothing to fear from Kate Argent.” Stiles frowned up at Peter who was looking way too calm for it to be natural. “My sister and I will take care of her for good this time.”

Stiles nodded, he really did feel better at that. He was pretty sure Peter wasn’t talking about throwing her in jail. He was fully prepared to follow up on his threat to rip out her throat. And Stiles felt calmer for it.

Stiles listened to the conversation better after that; it was amazing what a lack of pain did for his concentration. Peter kept his hand on the back of Stiles’ neck for a few minutes before he moved off to the other side of the room. Talia gave him a small smile as he did so and he nodded at her.

-

The Hale house was amazing. Stiles couldn’t help but let his mouth drop open when he saw it. Lydia had told him that he’d been brought there for his mom to bring his Spark back but this was the first time he’d actually been conscious and it was amazing. Derek had described it as big when he was talking about his family growing up there and Stiles could see a lot of the house was newer than other parts, from the fire but he had no doubt it had been just as impressive before as after. His Dad’s cruiser pulled up a few seconds after they parked.

He had barely opened his door before the front door opened and a little girl ran outside and jumped straight into Peter’s arm. Stiles blinked at the flying leap she had to take to get her there. She was most definitely not human. She noticed him staring and waved at him.

“Hello!” She chirped. “I’m Pippa.”

“You’re Derek’s cousin.” Stiles remembered Derek telling him about her and her little brother Davey.

“Yep. Are you Stiles?” She asked and he nodded. “Cool. Derek smells a lot like you.”

Yeah. Definitely not human.

“Uh…Well that’s because we’ve spent a lot of time together this last week.” Pippa nodded after a moment of contemplation before she wriggled to be put down and ran into the house.

“Sorry, I sometimes forgot how strange it is for non-weres to hear us talk about smell like that.” Talia said and Stiles shrugged.

“I kind of figured it was normal after Derek told me how he could smell how much pain I was in.” Stiles shuddered unconsciously at the memory. Talia gave him a searching look before heading into the house. She led them to the kitchen where a guy was sitting at the table, who, if his eyebrows were anything to go by, was Derek’s older brother Nate.

“You’re Stiles.” Nate stood with a smile. And holy hell, were all the Hales so attractive? It was so unfair. Nate walked closer but stopped at a distance. Stiles thought that Nate might be a hugger but was stopping out of sympathy for Stiles’ feelings. Scott was the same way and it instantly made him like this guy. He reached forward and dragged the taller dude into a quick ‘backslapping-man-hug’ before pulling away.

“Nice to meet you man. Derek told me a lot about you.” Nate blinked in surprise before laughing.

“Yeah I guess he would have. He’s told us a bit about you too.” Stiles grinned nervously.

“All bad I’m sure.” He said but before Nate could answer there was a thud and Stiles spun around to see Cora crouched at the bottom of the stairs. He had no doubt she had just jumped from the first floor. “Hey Cora.”

“Stiles! What are you doing here?!” She grinned at him.

“We uh… we need to talk to Derek.” He motioned to his parents and Talia and Peter.

“He’s in his room. I’ll go get him.” Cora leapt back up to the top of the stairs in two leaps.

“Cora! This house wasn’t built to withstand that sort of treatment!” James Hale strolled into the room smiling at Stiles’ family when he saw them. “I thought I smelled visitors.”

He frowned at the look on his wife’s face.

“We’ll explain when Derek gets down.” She said in response to his expression and he nodded sitting down next to where Stiles’ dad had sat at the table. “How’re you doing Sheriff?”

Stiles watched in mild surprise as his and Derek’s dad got in a discussion about work. It was surreal to watch his parents interact with these people he had never met before but he was sure it was just as strange for them to watch him and Derek interact in the hospital. Stressful situations brought people closer together after all.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in so long! Here's a new chapter with plenty more on the way!

There was another thud and Stiles looked back to the stairs, flushing when he saw Derek stretching from a crouch.

“Uh, hey Derek.” He said nervously when Derek practically stalked forwards. Derek grabbed him and buried his face into Stiles’ neck. Stiles was pretty sure his face went supernova, if the look on his Dad’s face was any indication.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Derek asked pulling away frowning and Stiles winced. Yeah, that was why Derek had sudden gone all ‘scenty’ he could smell the stress on Stiles’ skin.

“You’ll probably want to sit down.” Talia said softly, though she looked slightly surprised by Derek’s sudden touchy-feelyness. Derek’s frowned deepened but he nodded and pulled Stiles to sit down at the kitchen table. Stiles resigned himself to looking like a tomato around these people in the near future when Derek was around. He didn’t seem to know the meaning of the words ‘personal space’.

“What’s going on?” Derek asked, he glanced at Stiles. “Is he hurt worse than we thought?... Is it his spark?”

“No I’m fine dude.” Stiles said trying to smile reassuringly though if Derek’s expression was anything to go by he didn’t quite succeed.

“Derek. I know you haven’t told us anything about the kidnapping beside the bare basics because you don’t like reliving it but I need you to answer me okay?” Talia asked her eyes flashing red and Derek nodded solemnly. “Stiles says that there were more than two kidnappers. That Kate Argent was there too?”

Derek flinched violently and Stiles couldn’t help but reach for his hand and give it a reassuring squeeze.

“Yes. She was the main one. I thought you knew that. You got them?” Derek’s voice was rising in panic and Stiles gripped tighter at his hand. He knew exactly how Derek was feeling right now. “You said you got them.”

“We got two of them. A man and a woman. Neither were Kate Argent.” Peter snarled and Derek’s eyes flashed blue.

“She was there, and her father. They both tortured Stiles.” Derek growled and Stiles winced. So it wasn’t just his imagination that had made up the old guy. Damn, he had really been hoping his dreams weren’t true.

“Shit.” He cursed running his hands through his hair. His breathing started to pick up and he cursed himself again. Now was not the time to have another panic attack.

“Stiles. Breathe.” His Dad pressed a gentle hand against his shoulder but he couldn’t stop. It was already spiralling out of control. Within a few minutes he was curled up on the floor with his hands digging grooves into his scalp from how tight his hands were clutching his head. Flashes of pain ran through him from his injuries but that just made the attack worse, every twinge sent his body into remembering why he was hurting. What had happened.

“Stiles. Look at me.” He forced his hands to loosen and looked up at Derek who was looking pretty freaked out himself. “You’re safe here. She can’t get you here.”

“I’m safe.” Stiles whispered nodding, trying to breath evenly. “I’m fine…. I’m safe. I’m fine.”

Another minute and he could breathe regularly again.

He managed to uncurl slightly and stood shakily to let Derek lead him back to the kitchen table between Stiles’ parents. They both grabbed one of his hands and he squeezed them before folding his arms across himself.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean too.” He said quietly.

“It’s fine Stiles. You couldn’t help it.” James said and Stiles nodded though he didn’t lift his gaze from the table.

“Stiles. Why don’t you go lie down?” Talia asked softly. “We’re going to discuss what can be done to best keep you safe. Your Mom and Dad can tell you everything when you get home.”

Stiles nodded and stood shakily again. Derek was instantly at his side.

“We’ll be in the TV room.” He said wrapping an arm around Stiles’ middle and leading him from the kitchen. Stiles was pretty sure in a house of werewolves there was no such thing as privacy so just because he couldn’t see Derek’s sisters eavesdropping didn’t mean a thing. They could probably be in the yard and hear the whole thing. Still he was glad for the illusion they granted him.

The TV room was aptly named. The TV set was a home movie theatre which covered most of one wall. There were a multitude of squishy looking sofas that Stiles couldn’t wait to nose dive into. He waited for Derek to pick one before he lay down next to him stretching his legs out over the arm of the sofa. He figured Derek wouldn’t mind him being cuddly for a while.

“Want to watch something?” Derek asked after a few minutes of silence and Stiles shrugged.

“Sure why not. What do you have?” Derek reeled off a few film titles. “…The Avengers?”

“Okay.” Derek did something clever with a remote and in the next few seconds the opening theme of the movie played. Stiles let the familiar dialogue and music soothe his nerves. He had watched this movie countless times already.

He was so relaxed by the time Natasha Romanoff was trying to convince Bruce Banner to join them that he didn’t even flinch when the door opened. Though he felt Derek’s thigh tense. He pushed himself up to sit upright and couldn’t help his soft gasp of surprise when he saw the kid at the door.

This was Davey Hale. The second of two humans in Derek’s Pack and the worst injured in the fire. The scars were ugly, there was no denying it. They covered half of Davey’s face, taking over his right eye completely and pulling down his mouth into a grimace. Stiles stopped staring quickly though when he realised that Davey was looking scared and he waved.

“Hey there. You must be Davey. Derek’s told me a lot about you.” He smiled warmly at the kid who frowned. “All good I promise.”

“You’re Stiles?” The boy whispered and Stiles nodded.

“Yep. I think I met your sister earlier? Pippa?” The boy nodded.

“Yeah. Philippa’s my older sister.” Davey said and Stiles grinned glancing between the screen and the boy.

“Did you want to watch with us?” He asked and Davey hesitated.

“I heard the Avengers…” He said slowly and Stiles nodded.

“Yup. It’s my favourite movie. Do you like it too?” Stiles looked down at Davey’s shirt which was a Captain America shirt.

“Yeah… Iron Man’s my favourite.” Stiles gasped.

“Oh well I don’t know if we can be friends then!” He grinned and winked to show he was joking. “Unless you declare the Black Widow as your Queen and all-time favourite character of everything then there’s no choice but to be enemies!”

Davey had been shyly shuffling closer but at this he seemed to be interested and walked closer.

“You like her best?” Stiles grinned.

“Well one of my best friends, Lydia, won’t let me like any of the other characters as much. She’s a lot like Natasha you see and she wouldn’t let me like anyone better. Though if I was allowed to choose I’d probably pick her anyway.” Davey nodded seriously and man this kid was adorable.

“That’s fair enough.” Davey crawled up onto the sofa next to Stiles and snuggled in under his arm. “Black Widow’s cool I guess.”

“You guess! You guess! Let me educate you on all things Natasha Romanoff!” Stiles exclaimed and he began to explain in great detail why the Black Widow was the best of the Avengers. Finishing with a ‘I guess Iron Man’s a good second though’.

“Yeah, he doesn’t have super powers either. He’s just really smart.” Stiles suddenly had a good guess as to why Iron Man was Davey’s favourite. He was growing up human in a Pack of werewolves, it must be nice to see someone like Tony Stark who was ordinary except for his mind.

“Yeah plus he’s really handsome too!” Stiles exclaimed. He heard a chuckle and blushed. He’d almost completely forgotten about Derek. The werewolf was watching him with a look in his eyes that Stiles’ couldn’t quite place but it punched his breath out of his chest. He had to clear his throat before speaking again. “Go on then Derek, who’s your favourite Avenger?”

“Captain America. Who could say no to those abs.” Derek said and Stiles scoffed.

“You’ve put no thought into that argument! Please! Choosing a superhero based on his looks only!” Stiles made a show of being offended with Derek until Davey giggled.

“Yeah Derek! You can’t pick a superhero only on looks!” He chorused and Stiles grinned. Derek gave him a dry look.

“Stop corrupting my cousin.” He said and Stiles’ grin just widened.

“Please! Your cousin and I have an understanding!” Stiles exclaimed dramatically, pulling Davey closer to him. A knock at the door interrupted them and Stiles looked over to see Philippa watching them.

“Can I come in too?” She asked kicking at the floor and Derek nodded. She flung herself on top of her cousin abruptly snuggling into his chest, snuffling in the most adorable way.

“Hey there Pippa, you okay?” Stiles asked and Philippa shook her head.

“Daddy’s getting angry.” She mumbled. Stiles froze, he had almost forgotten about why he was there in the first place. Derek reached behind him and squeezed the back of his neck.

“Yeah he’s probably upset.” Derek said. “He’s not angry at you though.”

Philippa nodded as if that was explanation enough before she looked at the TV just as Natasha pulled off an amazing escape from the Hulk.

“She’s so cool!” She chirped and Stiles turned his smug grin on Derek who rolled his eyes and swatted at his head playfully.

They got most of the way through the movie before Stiles’ parents came to get him. Peter was with them, no doubt searching out his kids and his eyes widened when he saw Davey curled up on Stiles’ lap.

“Hey Daddy.” Davey chirped. “Who’s your favourite superhero?”

“The Hulk.” Peter said smoothly, swooping in and plucking his son from Stiles’ lap, giving him a hug before depositing him in a sleeping Derek’s lap. “Because he’s scary but in control.”

Yep and that could be the title to Peter Hale’s biography. To quote Iron Man. Stiles smiled and waved at the kids.

“I guess I’m going home now. I’ll see you again soon okay?” He asked and they both nodded snuggling into Derek’s chest. Peter held out a hand to Stiles and he took it cautiously, wondering if he’d insulted the guy or done something wrong. Peter led him out to where his parents were waiting before pulling him into a quick hug.

“Thank you.” He said quietly before pulling away.

“Uh for what?” Stiles asked wondering if all Hales were touchy-feely.

“I’ve never seen Davey warm to someone so quickly. Thank you for treating him like he’s normal.” Peter said and Stiles frowned.

“He _is_ normal.” He protested and Peter nodded firmly, though Stiles thought he could see the glint of tears in Peter’s eyes. Peter left before Stiles could say anything else. Stiles turned to his parents who were watching him with interest. He shrugged. “What? Kids like me! It’s a thing!”

“Let’s go home. We need to talk.” His Dad said and Stiles sighed. He knew he wouldn’t get away with knowing nothing. It wasn’t safe not to know what was going on but he wished that he could just leave this all up to everyone else.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr [here](http://madame-hobbit.tumblr.com/)


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